Running a new Route

I'm pretty set in my ways when it comes to running.  I don't like to take a new route.  No real reason, most of the time I know where roads are going so it's not that I'm going to get lost, but I like to stick to what I know.  And let's be honest, the 3.2 mile route that I run right now is pretty challenging with the hills and stairs.

Last night I ran at Stephen's house.  Complete change of scenery.  More of a street run than a park run for starters.  Then there is the elevation changes.  Holy Hell are there a lot of hills around his house!  We ran a 2.1 mile route that about kicked my butt.  I didn't stop running, but I put up a fight with my self and I snapped at Stephen a few times when I couldn't even see the top of the hill that we were running.  (Sorry!!!  I wasn't mad, just struggling to survive!)  Click here to see the route.

But I did it.  I ran a new route and ran two days in a row.  From now until the Peachtree there is no missing my running days!  I have to be able to run 6.2 miles on July 4th.

The best part of the run last night was our quick stop in Grant Park.  I've only been to Grant Park once for an Alzheimer's walk and I didn't really take it all in.  I'm looking forward to spending more time around there with Stephen and Mabel.  There is so much history in Atlanta - I need to go out and find it! Here is a little history of how Grant Park came to be from the official Grant Park website:

The Grant Park neighborhood was named for Lemuel P. (L.P.) Grant, a civil engineer for the Georgia Railroad who has been called the "Father of Atlanta." As an agent for the Western Railroad Company and the Georgia Air Line Railroad, Grant helped to bring the railroad to Atlanta. During the Civil War, in his capacity as chief engineer for the Department of the Militia, C.S.A., he planned and supervised the construction of defensive lines around the city. Ater the war, he continued to serve the city as a member of the committee that named streets, member of the city council, Board member of the Bank of the State of Georgia and served on the committee to draft the new city charter in 1873.


I think it's fascinating that I live in a city with such a rich history.  I can't wait to go to Oakland Cemetery, also built on land from Mr. Grant. 

Kashi Thin Crust Mushroom Trio & Spinach Pizza

I don't consider myself a huge frozen pizza eater - but I eat my fair share. On a really busy night they are just so easy!

I usually go with California Pizza Kitchen pizzas so last night I branched out and tried the Kashi Thin Crust Mushroom Trio & Spinach pizza.  There is so much talk about how healthy Kashi is for you and how it should be my snack food all the time, no matter what it is, so I decided to give it a shot.  It was pretty good!

I had just finished a 3 mile run and was starving and I ate 3/4 of the pizza while watching Glee.  Nights don't get better than that.

I'm definitely going to have to try some of the other pizzas.  They are a little more expensive, but if they are that much better for me - what's a dollar at the end of the day?

No Strings Attached - Movie Review

Netflix is keeping me entertained!  Last night I watched the Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher flick, No Strings Attached.  I knew what to expect when I hit play and it's exactly what I got.

It was a cute, predictable romantic comedy with two beautiful lead actors that are easy to look at.  It was nice to see Natalie play someone normal after watching Black Swan.

If you haven't seen it - two friends decide to enter a physical-only relationship, nothing romantic, only sex until one of them starts to feel something more for the other person.  Of course that's a bad idea.  Someone will always develop feelings.

I strongly believe that a man and woman can be friends without there being anything sexual.  I do NOT believe that a man and woman can be in a sexual relationship and just be friends.  That's just my opinion.

Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis have a VERY similar movie, Friends with Benefits, coming out in July. It will be interesting to see if they have different endings - because, yes, I'm not going to miss this movie.

Pictures from Meaghan & Joe's wedding weekend

I have another post coming later today, but I wanted to share some of the pictures from the weekend with everyone.  Enjoy!

Me and Bonnie at the Bridesmaid Luncheon

Meaghan thanking her family

The bride and the MOH at the Rehearsal

All the beautiful ladies

Sisters!

Deegan's standing in at the Rehearsal

Meaghan and her Dad

The dress is on!  I've never seen a better fitting dress

Their first dance as husband and wife

Tina's MOH speech

No dates, no problem

Great action shot!

Ahhh

Meaghan and Joe's wedding weekend

What a beautiful weekend.  I can't say enough about how wonderful it was to be home with family and friends over the weekend to witness the union of my beautiful step-sister, Meaghan, and her fiancee, Joe.  I hate that I don't have pictures to post yet, but I'll do my best to get them posted tomorrow.

Thursday, I flew home and was picked up with my dad and then headed out to dinner with the gang at The Ale House.  I love the Ale House, boy do I miss it.  We have similar bar/restaurants here, but they don't feel the same.

Friday is when the craziness began.  While it was crazy and we were all so super busy, I must say that Meaghan and Tina, the MOH, held everything together perfectly.  Friday morning Tina, Bonnie and I headed out to get our nails done before headed to the Bridesmaid luncheon at Sweetwater Country Club.  From the lunch we then had to go pick up the wedding gown and drop it off where the ladies would be getting ready the next morning.  Then back to the house to get ready to race off to the Rehearsal at the church.  From the Rehearsal to the Rehearsal Dinner then back to the house for the Lingerie Party.  What a day!  Everything was beautiful.  Meaghan was so sweet to the moms and the bridal party - every bride should be as generous as she was.

The Rehearsal didn't start as smoothly as it could have with the groom and all his men arriving about an hour late.  But this didn't stop us, we proceeded to rehearse with stand ins for Joe and the men - cue the Deegans.

Saturday went off without a hitch.  The weather was beautiful ( HOT, but beautiful) and the church looked amazing.  But nothing compared to how beautiful Meaghan looked in her gown.  She literally stopped traffic while we were taking pictures outside of the church.  I've never seen a dress fit a bride more perfectly than her dress fit her.  And while she always looks beautiful, there was a special glwo about her on Saturday.  Pictures to come soon.

The ceremony was well done and with only one small incident (a fainting groomsman - to respect him, no more details online) Joe and Meaghan became husband and wife.  And boy were they excited.  Then it was on to the reception where we danced our butts off.

The weekend went by in such a blur and it was worth every moment.  I hope Meaghan and Joe are enjoying their time in Jamaica!  

Besides all of the above (and it seems silly to mention in a post about something as special and important as marriage) I went shopping Sunday before heading to the airport.  I'm now the proud owner of my very first designer bag:

Love.

Yeah, I'm dating the Goalie

Last night I went to one of Stephen's soccer games.  I know this might not be exciting to most people, but it was really exciting for me.  At one point in my life I was a pretty darn good volleyball player and I was very competitive.  I loved when people came to watch me play.  In the 10+ years since high school my athletic abilities have slowly started to fade (which is why I'm sticking to running for now) and I'm not nearly as good as I used to be.  But it's because of this that I really enjoyed watching Stephen play.

It's exciting to see someone who, even as an adult, gets out on the field once a week to give it all he has.  They won the game and I was super proud of my man - he played well.  He's pretty bruised and bloody from the game, but you aren't giving it your all if you don't leave part of you on the field.  It was dark and I didn't bring a good camera with me, so I don't have any pictures.

On a side note - they play at the Atlanta Silverbacks Park, a huge complex of soccer fields just outside the perimeter.  I knew it was there and I'd never been.  It was pretty awesome.  The field Stephen's team played on was at the top of a hill.  Without a net around the edge.... every ball that missed the goal flew off the side of the hill and someone had to chase it.  BIG fail Atlanta Silverbacks Park!  Fix that!  I would have assumed that it would be priority #1 after laying down the turf... but that's just me.

I Feel So Violated

Last night was just a regular night.  I made dinner, watched a movie (more on that later) and was reading a book until Stephen was to come over when my doorbell rang.  Of course, I thought it was Stephen so I ran to answer.  Turns out it was my neighbor letting me know that my poor car had just been broken into.  Now I have an alarm on the car which didn't go off and I don't keep anything of value in my car so there wasn't a reason for them to pick my car other than I must have left a door unlocked.  I've never left my car unlocked, but last night must have been someone's lucky night.

They stole my computer that I got in 2000 when I went off to college, it's 7 years older than my car.  I had it in the trunk to take somewhere to donate.  No big loss there.  They also took a small flashlight I had in the glovebox and the worst, Stephen's wallet.   Luckily he had his ID and debit card with him so he was able to quickly cancel his credit card.

Nothing irreplaceable was taken, nothing was broken and they left behind a lot of things that if they were real thugs they would have taken (CDs, Netflix movies to be returned, phone charger...) but only those three things were taken.  I even had clothes in the car and those were left behind.  Stupid kids.  It's just huge violation of my privacy and personal space. The cops came, took down a report, but I'll never see my stuff again.

I thought my new thing of the day was going to be watching Winter's Bone.  The movie got so much buzz at Oscar time, I had to see it.  It had been sitting on my TV stand for a month, so it was about time! The story was quite startling.  I know there are lives out there similar to those in the film and I'm thankful for everything that I have in my life.

Another motivation for watching the movie was to get to see Jennifer Lawrence act.  Winter's Bone is her only big movie to date and she's been cast as Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games movies.  I thought it was a horrible casting decision but last night she changed my mind.  I see a lot of Katniss in her Winter's Bone character, Ree.  She is so glamourous on the red carpet and in interviews but playing Ree was 100% opposite of that.  I'm happy with her as Katniss.

Winter's Bone isn't a lift me up, feel good movie.  Scenes will stick with you after the credits end.  Would I be as strong as Ree in trying to save her family?  Thankfully I'll never have to find out.